Abstract

The present paper analyses issue of the power relationship between the privileged class and the mass who struggled for liberation from British Raj. This power relationship manifests itself first during partition of United India which resulted in emergence of imagined communities. The imagined communities could not remain homogeneous due to a lack of harmony in their priorities and different social backgrounds. It also examines the pitfall of national liberation by highlighting military dictatorship and ethnic politics which widened crevices among the people of East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The war of 1857 has been compared with the war of 1971 in order to unearth the drawbacks of decolonisation which paved the ground for the emergence of ethnic politics. Ethnic politics promoted exploitation, inequality, and political marginalisation, which led to the separation of East Pakistan in 1971. Benedict Anderson’s theory about imagined communities has been included in the study in order to prove the weak bond of collectivity in the form of nationalism. Frantz Fanon’s views about the emergence of the elite class after decolonization have also been linked with the issue under study. The paper highlights the weak nature of bondage among various ethnic communities which do not maintain their status of collectivity and leads to regionalism after decolonization.

Key Words

Colonisation, Decolonisation, Imagined Communities, The Colonised Bourgeoisie

Introduction

The terms of nationalism and colonisation are interlinked since nationalist movements in the Indian Subcontinent emerged for the sake of emancipation and freedom from the British colonisers. The national movements of liberation were initiated by the political leaders who activated and accelerated these movements for reclaiming their land, history, culture, and language. This political milieu is depicted in Pakistani English novels, especially The Weary Generations, Basti and Ice-Candy Man. This research paper focuses on the novels, The Weary Generations and Basti, which portray the political struggle of the Indians against the British colonisers and trials and tribulations of nationalism respectively. 

The Weary Generations portrays pre-partition scenario of United India, which was ruled by the British colonisers till 1946. The novel focuses on two families of different social backgrounds, i.e., the native elite class and the peasants. The novel portrays the romantic relationship between Naim and Azra who represent two different social classes. Naim belongs to the underprivileged people while Azra represents the elite class. They also participate actively in freedom movements of the Indian people against the British colonisers. Their relationship does not gain stability due to their different social backgrounds, and thus they finally part their ways. The novel unveils the power relationship between the elite class and underprivileged people. Naim's struggle for freedom of United India from The British Raj resulted in failure.    

Basti is written by Intizar Husain, who was born in Uttar Pradesh and migrated to Lahore in Pakistan after the partition of 1947. The novel was published in 1979 in Urdu and was translated into English by Frances W. Pritchett. It portrays the United India wherein Hindus and Muslims lived in perfect harmony. It also foregrounds the 1857 war of independence. The war of 1857 was, however, an unsuccessful attempt of the uprising against the British East India Company. The novel then moves to the state of panic in Dhaka (Bangladesh). The war of 1857 is compared with the war of 1971. East Pakistan separated from the West Pakistan and thus the creation of Pakistan in 1947 ended with its division in 1971.

This article analyses the novel Basti and encompasses the national liberation movements which led to the phase of domination after independence. It begins with pre-partition India, wherein Muslims and Hindus lived together and shared their moments of anguish and jubilation. It also includes the united movements of the Indians against the British colonisers such as the Khilafat Movement. This movement is a fine example of the unity of Muslims and Hindus who united against imperial power. The article then shifts to the phase of disturbance in Pakistan due to rumors about chaos in East Pakistan. It highlights the Muslims of the East Pakistan who were dominated and exploited by the Muslims of West Pakistan. The article focuses on the military elites who failed in maintaining balance in Pakistan in terms of protection and equality. It was a setback for West Pakistan because the majority population of East Pakistan separated from West Pakistan in 1971. This article argues about the ambiguous nature of nationalism which merely motivated the colonized for the resistance movements against the colonisers.   

Before discussing the tragedy of 1971, it is of paramount importance to comment on the historical background which led to the creation of Pakistan and finally the separation of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) from West Pakistan in 1971. The nationalist movements in United India were initiated from the platform of the Congress which brought Hindus and Muslims closer to each other. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was also a member of the Congress, "On his return from England in 1896, Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress” (Ahmed, 1997, p. 5). However, due to political differences, he had to part ways from the Congress and joined The Muslim League and was “elected president of the Lucknow Muslim League session in 1916” (Ahmed, p. 6). The Muslims like other political groups such as the Congress wanted a separate homeland in “the shape of autonomous states in northwestern and northeastern India, where they were in a majority” (Jalal, 2014, p. 13). The political leaders created more crevices on the basis of religious identities. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (2011) expressed his distress about the division of the United India on faith-based identity, “No one can hope that East and West Pakistan will compose all their differences and form one nation” (p. 270).

 The Muslim League tried to uphold Two Nation Theory which meant that Hindus and Muslims were two different nations. However, the religious identity could not unite Muslims of the United India, “the religious, regional, and class-based interests of Muslims clashed more often than they converged” (Jalal, 2014, p. 17). The British supported growing religious differences which affected harmony among the Indians and turned them enemies against each other. The United India was finally divided on the basis of religious identities in 1947 and thus Pakistan came into being on 14 August, 1947. 

Pakistan faced a miserable situation of trials after the partition. The untimely death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, added to the worries of Pakistan. The assassination of the Prime Minister, Liaqat Ali Khan, was yet another factor which curtailed the march of national harmony and brotherhood. The military dictatorship of Ayub Khan led the newly-born nation into a phase of neo-colonisation. The people of Pakistan witnessed a new phase of nationalism which was dominated by military elites.




Research Questions

1. How does the novel, The Weary Generations portray the fragile nature of nationalism?

2. Why did the people of East Pakistan enter into a new phase of domination as depicted in the novel, Basti?

Methodology and Theoretical Framework

The paper follows qualitative research, which is “viewed as an organic development dictated by the research in progress and not by a predetermined focus or hypothesis” (Seliger & Shohamy, 1995, p. 116). The selected passages from the novels are analyzed through interpretation. In order to narrow down the domain of analysis, selected characters have been analysed. The views of Benedict Anderson about the nation as an imagined community and Frantz Fanon’s about pitfalls of nationalism are relevant to the issue understudy in the present article.    

Movements of national liberation pass through phases of transformation. These movements bring people together in order to accelerate their struggle of liberation. People are lured by national aspirations. However, after decolonization, their national collectivity gets affected and cracks of differences appear among people of the same nation. Benedict Anderson (2006) calls it an imagined community (p. 6). In such a case, people of different ethnic communities of the same nation do not develop a strong bond of collectivity. According to him nationalism “invents nations where they do not exist” (p. 6). He argues that in the imagined community, fellow-members feel a bond of being part of the same nation through an official narrative, education, and media, "the printed book kept a permanent form, capable of virtually infinite reproduction, temporally and spatially" (p. 44). He uses the term Print-Capitalism for such a situation which develops national consciousness and affinity among citizens of the same nation through print languages. However, this promised affinity of nationhood is not fulfilled and remains a wish to be materialized.

Frantz Fanon (2004) criticizes nationalism due to its fragile nature. He argues that countries after independence pass through a phase of ethnic differences:

The cracks in it explain how easy it is for young independent countries to switch back from nation to ethnic group and from state to tribe-a regression which is so terribly detrimental and prejudicial to the development of the nation and national unity. (p. 97)

The imagined community soon experiences ethnic and sectarian differences which affect national unity. One important factor is the rise of the national bourgeoisie, which betrays its own people (Fanon, 2004, p. 99). For the bourgeoisie, decolonization means the transfer of power from the colonisers to the native elites who follow the footsteps of their masters, "For the bourgeoisie, nationalization signifies very precisely the transfer into indigenous hands of privileges inherited from the colonial period” (p. 100). Decolonization thus leads to frustration of the people who participated very actively in the movements of liberation. These people suffer at the hands of their native elites who promote racism in order to ensure privileges of certain ethnic groups, “It is simply a power struggle” (p. 23). There is a shift from nationalism to ethnocentrism and racism. It reveals an important pitfall of nationalism which is based on the imagined community. Sufferings of the people do not end with the demise of colonization, "the colonised bourgeoisie which attains power utilizes the aggressiveness of its class to grab the jobs previously held by foreigners… In fact, its actions become increasingly tinged with racism" (Fanon, 2004, p. 103). People of the independent country experience troubles and exploitation which were practiced by the foreigners (colonizers). Their victimization creates crevices among people of the same nation. There are certain ethnic groups that secure a privileged status while others are pushed into peripheries, “there is a plethora of devastating racisms, both institutional and popular, between 'nations', 'ethnic groups' and 'communities'” (Balibar, 1991, p. 44). Such a division of people into ethnicities is based on racism and it leads to ethnic politics.

This paper analyses the role of the Indians in their movements of liberation against the British colonisers. It argues that the aims of the native elites and masses were different and thus partition of the United India resulted in imagined communities. It then examines marginalisation of certain ethnic groups after the partition in order to reveal the pitfall of nationalism which is constructed on the basis of imagined communities.  




Pre-Partition Scenario and National Liberation

Abdullah Hussein’s The Weary Generations portrays the pre-partition scenario of United India. It focuses on a fictitious village, Roshan Pur, which “was divided into two communities of roughly equal size: the Muslims and the Sikhs” (1999, p. 14). The story depicts two classes, i.e., the privileged class and the peasants. Roshan Ali Khan belonged to the elite class because he was awarded with the title of 'Roshan Agha' and large uncultivated land by the British for helping a British officer “at the time of Mutiny” (p. 14). He built ‘Roshan Mahal’ where later on his son, Nawab Ghulam Mohyyeddin Khan’ lived. After the death of the old Roshan Agha, the title was transferred to his son Nawab Ghulam Mohyyeddin Khan. Besides the Indian nawabs, the novel depicts another class of Indian peasant farmers. Naim, the protagonist, is one of them. His father, Niaz Beg, was arrested for making guns. Naim lived with his uncle, Ayaz Beg until his father was released. 

It is important to discuss the characters of the two classes of different social backgrounds because the study analyses their struggle for liberation, whether they diminish or maintain their differences during their fight against the British. Naim met Azra, daughter of Roshan Agha, in Roshan Mahal and both fell in love with each other through it was Azra who married Naim against the will of her family (p. 184). The story brings the two characters of different social backgrounds together in the form of their love relationship, “a love story which begins, thrives and eventually falls with the fate of British colonialism in India itself” (Naeem, 2016). It unveils a very important aspect about the failure of nationalism which, according to Benedict Anderson (2006), "is an imagined political community - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign" (p. 6). The nation which emerges from such various social backgrounds does not remain homogeneous due to their different priorities. In this case, Azra and Naim represent two different families who symbolize two different classes; they mingled temporarily but moved apart from each other in the end, “Eventually she fails to gain her husband’s respect through her ambivalent stand on his politics” (Naeem, 2016). Due to difference in their social background, their priorities and political thinking also varied. 

Naim joined the British army during the First World War and was awarded "ten acres of land in his village, a promotion-on-retirement to subedar and an increase in his pension" (Hussein, 1999, p. 126). However, his loyalty for the British army was shattered due to the exploitation of the British colonial rulers and nawabs. Kishan Das sahib (Assistant District Secretary) told Naim, “you will realize how treacherous these people are who represent this system, the system of poverty and slavery, these people who control all our lives” (p. 141). Roshan Agha lived a splendid life by exploiting the poor peasants who worked laboriously in their fields. Naim hated the “Landlords’ Law” and challenged it when he saw his own people who were victimized for not giving a share of the crop (p. 200). The system imposed by Roshan Agha, was representative of “gora sarkar” (p. 169). Naim decided to join the Congress Party, “He let the Congress Party know that he was available for any work they wished him to do” (p. 200). He was against the British Colonial masters who exploited and tortured the Indians. He wanted liberation from the British Sarkar i.e., the freedom of Hindustan (p. 217) and for this reason he joined the Congress Party which was a platform for all the Indians especially for Hindus and Muslims. He was put behind bars many times for his anti-colonial struggle, "When the policeman pulled up Naim’s second hand for handcuffs, he was amazed" (p. 209). 

The Indians protested against the Simon Commission in Lahore. Naim and Azra also participated in the protests. There was no clear direction which could guide the people, “The nature of the independence movement was such at the time that nobody knew the exact aim of these demonstrations” (p. 223). Indian people wanted freedom from the British rulers but they wanted to live among their own people. Azra heard a group of peasants who participated in the demonstration; they seemed to be worried more about their wives, children and crops, "They were little bothered about the demonstration, did not understand much of what was going on but were content to be there, among their own people" (p. 224). It shows the close attachment of the people who had not thought about a partition which could divide them on the basis of religion or language. This unity of the Indians, however, did not remain intact. It divided the people of United India into imagined communities.

The Muslim leaders who “were a product of colonial education” (Hussain, 1976, p. 920) wanted a separate identity on the basis of their religion. All India Muslim Conference was arranged in order to bring Muslims of India on the same platform, “It was the time when political awareness was beginning to awaken a sense of separate identity among the Muslims of India” (p. 231). Quaid e Azam wanted to gain the support of the Muslims of All India, “Islam was employed as a means of fostering group identity to mobilize the masses in the pre-independence period” (Islam, 1981, p. 56). However, it was difficult to ensure the collective identity of the Muslims.  Hussein (1999) unveils internal differences of the Muslim leaders in a conference, “For the time being, the Muslim Conference remained merely a symbol of Muslim unity, the different factions of Muslims keeping their distance from each other, holding to their separate agendas” (p. 235). The differences among the Muslims during the Muslim Conference justifies Anderson’s idea about nationalism based on imagined community. The idea of the separate identity of the Muslims on the basis of their religion proved to be a fatal mistake which caused genocide during the partition. The various factions of the Muslims could not forget their differences. Moreover, it led to the separation of the Muslims from other religious groups.   

The partition could not unite the elite class such as Roshan Agha and the masses such as Naim. Naim had married Azra, daughter of Roshan Agha, but the partition parted their ways. It indicates that the partition maintained the social and political differences between the elites and the masses. Though Roshan Agha was not in favor of leaving his land because, "his loyalty lay with the ownership of land, by virtue of that, of people" (pp. 300-301). His son Pervez wanted to move to Pakistan because he was sure that:

Roshan Agha will be able to claim, to the fullest extent, the lands in the new country abandoned by Hindus and Sikhs who will inevitably move back from there to India; and so far, his own career in the civil service was concerned, there would be unlimited chances for promotion right to the top as there would certainly be a severe shortage of Muslim administrators in Pakistan. (p. 301) 

Pervez was very rational in his decision of leaving Roshan Mahal. He visualised promising future especially for affluent and educated people like Pervez and his family members: 

As the mad rush to Pakistan sets in, both for the privileged (via aircraft) and the underprivileged (on foot), the opportunism of the weary generations is on full display in the rush for evacuee property and plum bureaucratic jobs in the new country called Pakistan. (Naeem, 2016)

The elites had their own dream of securing their interest in Pakistan. Their vision was different from that of the masses. They wanted a superior status in a separate country. Differences between the elite classes and the masses prove Fanon's view about the bitter reality of decolonisation, “It is simply a power struggle” (2004, p. 23).  

However, for the masses such as Naim and Ali, an uncertain future in Pakistan awaited. As Fanon (2004) has said that decolonisation leads to neocolonialism which repeats the colonial practices in the decolonised state. The decolonised state witnesses the rise of the national bourgeoisie, which exploits its own native people by following the foot-steps of colonial masters. The novel also depicts the plight of the characters soon after the partition. Naim and Ali who did not know that in the new country, Pakistan, they would be governed and exploited by their new masters, i.e., the social and political elites and also the military elite. This pitfall of national liberation is discussed below. 

Post-Partition and the 1971 War of Independence

The first chapter of the novel portrays the childhood of the protagonist, Zakir, with the technique of flashback; the situation is revealed with the eyes of the adult Zakir. His father shares various political movements, especially the anti-colonial movements. Khilafat Movement is one example of it. Zakir’s father was inspired with the senior politicians such as Maulana Muhammad Ali. He felt proud of their political movements:

And Maulana Muhammad Ali-oh God, oh God! When he spoke, it seemed that sparks were raining down. But not a single word ever fell below the standard of cultured speech. Well, that was Maulana Muhammad Ali; but I never saw a single volunteer say anything below the standard of cultured speech, either. They said, ‘Death to the English,’ and not a word more. (Husain, 1995, p. 23)

Zakir’s father was inspired with the Khilafat Movement because it united Hindu and Muslim political leaders who resisted against the British Raj. For him, the liberation movement against the British colonials constituted a movement of the cultured politicians. Their aim was to get rid of the British colonials. He admired the politicians such as Maulana Muhammad Ali who supported and accelerated Khilafat Movement. The political struggle before the partition is compared with the slogans of people led by political leaders in Pakistan, “The sound of slogans could still be heard…The rally has just begun…Nowadays rallies are like that. They begin with shouts, and end with shots (p. 8)”. These protests were no more than shouts of the people, “This kind of thing happens in rallies nowadays” (pp. 50-51). Fanon’s views (2004) about the demise of the colonisation after decolonisation is highlighted by analysing the novel Basti which shows a decline in national aspirations.

The war of 1857 is mentioned time and again and depicted in close connection with the war of 1971. The British considered the war of 1857 as a mutiny but for the South Asians, it was "the First War of Independence" (p. xiv). Husain (1995) depicts the miserable situation of the Muslims during 1857 through the words of Abba Jan (Zakir's father), "God bless him, my venerable father always told how in '57 there was such a strict curfew that they had to keep even the bodies of the dead in the house for three days sometimes…What bad times Muslims have faced” (p. 71). The war proved to be devastating for the Indian Muslims who became politically weak. As the Muslims were outnumbered by the Hindus in United India, therefore, their struggle of liberation was possible only in their unity against the colonisers. Eventually, Pakistan came into being, though against the wishes of most of the Indians. Zakir and his family migrated to Pakistan:

When Pakistan was still all new, when the sky of Pakistan was fresh like the sky of Rupnagar, and the earth was not yet soiled. In those days, how the caravans arrived from their long, long journeys! ...The refugees told whole long epics about how much suffering they had endured on the journey and how many difficulties they had overcome in order to reach the city. (p. 90) 

Though Zakir had a strong attachment with the land of his childhood, however, he thought the new land to be a land of possibility, but the event of 1971 disappointed him, “It is only when the second Partition occurs that Paradise is truly lost” (Shamsie, 2016).  The Post-partition scenario put the Pakistani Muslims in a new phase of troubles. Thousands of people from both sides were killed during the migration. The lucky ones reached their destination leaving behind their relatives either in the native lands or as dead during the journey. When Zakir and his parents migrated to Pakistan, they had to leave their big house and lived in a rented house in Pakistan. Auntie Sharifan visited their house and was surprised to know about the miserable situation of their rented house:

Worthless wretches who had no homes have had mansions allotted to them; those who had mansions have to live in rented houses! …Dulhan Bi, don't take it amiss, but your Pakistan is topsy-turvy. Everybody has lost all fellow-feeling, it is hard to believe it. (Husain, 1995, p. 98)

The decline of the nation started from the beginning when migrants were deprived of their due rights, “the part of the novel set against the backdrop of the 1971 partition (the partition of Bengal and Pakistan) is a fine discourse on the cracked reality of the creation of Pakistan” (Asim & Alam, 2019, p. 5). The national aspirations lost their spell when the newly born nation was dominated by the military dictators such as Sikandar Mirza, “The discussants had been loudly and energetically predicting the downfall of Sikandar Mirza” (Husain, 1995, p. 106), and General Ayub, “I [Ajmal] could not reconcile myself to the Ayub dictatorship” (p. 117). Military dictatorship in Pakistan signifies a decline in nationalism which has eroded democracy in the country. Fanon (2004) had already predicted about the emergence of the elite class in the newly-born states such as Pakistan, “It is simply a power struggle” (p. 23).  

The military dictators and politicians did not materialise the dreams of their people and followed the footsteps of the colonial masters. Abba Jan tells Zakir, “I only know one thing: I tell you that when the masters are cruel and the sons are rebellious, any disaster at all can befall the Lord’s creatures” (p. 122). The inequality, exploitation, and political marginalization eventually resulted in the separation of East Pakistan which is now known as Bangladesh and it validates Fanon’s views (1994) about the pitfall of nationalism which according to him leads to neocolonialism. The middle part of the novel portrays the twelve days of the war of 1971 and “the thoughts and feelings they evoke in Zakir” (p. viii). 

The novel does not depict the political resistance, rather it foregrounds the psychological condition of Zakir, “It is about how a personality survives in a morally corrupt universe by drawing on its own inner resources” (p. xii). He did not find any ease after moving into Pakistan wherein he remained alone. It is the crushing sense of loneliness that is focalised through the adult Zakir, “My father, I found the towns uneasy. East, west, north, south, I went in all directions searching for joy and peace. In every direction, I found the children of Adam unhappy and troubled” (p. 259). Zakir was in trouble due to the prevailing chaos in the country; he was unable to adapt himself to the new circumstances. He was not happy in the new country which was constituted on the basis of religious identity, “how much will be lost later when Zakir’s family migrates to Pakistan at the time of its creation and leaves behind the multi-religious world in which he grows up” (Shamsie, 2016).  Abba Jan confirms this fact, “God the Most High made the land wide and open, but in the hands of man it grows narrow and oppressive” (Husain, 1995, p. 216). His sorrow aggravated even more due to the separation of Sabirah whom he loved. After a long time, he thought about writing a letter to her but he could not decide whether to write her or not:

Now when so much time has passed and we have grown so far apart. Between her and me, time and space have both interposed themselves. They have allied themselves against us. How much time has passed since we walked on the same land, since a single sky spread over both our heads…Those who had been lost would remain lost forever. (p. 217)

The separation signifies the partition of United India into Pakistan and India. Zakir was in Pakistan while Sabirah in India. Both had moved apart from each other and were imprisoned in loneliness which aggravated their misery and their love remained unfulfilled. Zakir’s failure in love is not due to the physical obstacles, but he himself made a choice; for him, his world was 'morally imperfect' (p. xiii) and corrupt in which love could not blossom. 

The loss of East Pakistan is portrayed in order to show the loss of the spirit of national aspirations, “The first decade of Pakistani politics was marked by regional conflicts” (Islam, 1981, p. 60). The nationalism of liberation has turned into the nationalism of domination. West Pakistan marginalized East Pakistan which revolted against the oppression in 1971. The old slogans of ‘quit India’ were replaced with ‘crush India’:

The city was now under the spell of a new slogan. The grip of the old slogans had loosened…A new slogan came like a whirlwind, and spread rapidly over walls, cars, blackboards. ‘Crush India,’ ‘Crush India,’ in every house one subject, in every gathering one topic-war, war. War. (Husain, 1995, p. 121)

The people of United India struggled for emancipation from the British colonials. The war of 1857 is very significant in this regard. The war did not succeed in giving fruits of freedom to the Indians. The struggle of liberation did not stop in 1857, and United India was finally partitioned in 1947 though against the wishes of the majority Indians and thus, the partition proved to be devastating for people on both the sides, "They failed to resume their old lives and were left traumatized. These dashed expectations of the immigrants gave birth to a sense of loss and rootlessness and they became nostalgic of their past" (Asim & Alam, 2019, p. 8). 

The wish of freedom remained unmaterialised in Pakistan. It had two wings i.e., East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan were marginalized linguistically and politically. They felt being dominated by the political influences of West Pakistan. Zakir’s father says, “I tell you that when the masters are cruel and the sons are rebellious, any disaster at all can befall the Lord’s creatures” (Husain, 1995, p. 122). The oppression of East Pakistan resulted in a war which ended with the liberation of East Pakistan, "East Pakistan is being liberated” (p. 122). 

The separation of the Eastern wing from West Pakistan is compared with Cain's murder of his brother, Abel:

Then the brother buried his brother, following the example of the crow. And that was the first grave that was made on the face of the earth, and that was the first human blood that was shed by human hands, and that was the first brother who was slain by the hand of his brother. (p. 7)

The Quranic story of the two brothers, Abel and Cain has significant implications in the novel. Cain murdered Abel and then had to suffer for not knowing what to do with the body of his brother. He saw two crows that fought with each other. The slayer dug a hole with its beak and buried the victim in it. Cain learnt how to bury the dead body of his brother. This story is significant for its relevance with the separation of East Pakistan. The tragic war of 1971 broke out due to injustices done with East Pakistan because the people of East Pakistan were politically marginalized. It confirms the views of Etienne Balibar (1991) about internal racism:    

It is often the case that the criteria invested with a 'racial' (and a fortiori cultural) significance in this way are, largely, criteria of social class or that ultimately, they symbolically 'select' an elite that has already been selected by economic and political class inequalities, or that the dominated classes are those whose 'racial composition' and 'cultural identity are the most questionable. (p. 60)

The West Pakistan had secured its dominant position by relegating East Pakistan. The population of East Pakistan constituted the majority but the majority was ignored and reduced to a lower status. The partition of Pakistan pushed the people of East Pakistan into a new phase of domination.  

Conclusion

The analysis of the two novels affirms the fact

 that movements of liberation were inspired to forge unity with the Hindus which met with failure. The Hindus and the Muslims divided their political movements on the basis of their religious identities, which resulted in emergence of the imagined communities. The All-India Muslim League was constituted to represent the Muslims of United India. However, Muslim unity was affected due to internal differences of the various political leaders, and the novel, The Weary Generations, unveils separate agendas of the various fractions of Muslims in the Muslim Conference in order to show the fragile bond of the collectivity of the imagined community. The Muslim community was also rooted deeply in different social backgrounds, i.e., the elite class and the masses. The vision and dreams of the elite were different from those of the masses, and it is evident from the analysis of the novel, The Weary Generations. The separation of East Pakistan from West Pakistan in 1971 unveils a significant fact about the pitfall of nationalism. The analysis of the novel Basti, is supported with Frantz Fanon’s views about the emergence of the elite class after decolonization. The novel develops a close link of the war of 1857 with the war of 1971 in order to expose a bitter reality that the partition of United India in 1947 did not end the miseries of the colonized; the people of East Pakistan entered into a new phase of domination due to ethnic politics which forced them to initiate their movement of liberation.    

References

• Ahmed, A. S. (1997). Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic identity: The search for Saladin. Routledge.
• Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (1998). Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts (Routledge Key Guides) (3rd ed.). Routledge.
• Asim, R., & Alam, K. (2019). Loss and latency of migration in Basti. Bazyaft: Urdu
• Department, Punjab University, Lahore.
• Azad, A. K. (2011). India wins freedom: The complete version.
• Aziz, K. K. (1993). The murder of history: A critique of history textbooks used in Pakistan. Vanguard.
• Balibar, E. (1991).
• Bhabha, H. K. (1990). Nation and narration. Routledge.
• Benedict, A. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Verso.
• Chatterjee, P. (1993). The nation and its fragments: Colonial and postcolonial histories. Princeton University Press.
• Chatterjee, P. (1986). Nationalist thought and the colonial world: A derivative discourse. Zed Books.
• Cilano, C. N. (2013). Contemporary Pakistani Fiction in English: Idea, nation, state. Routledge.
• Cocks, J. (2002). Passion and paradox: Intellectuals confront the national question. Princeton University Press.
• Fanon, F. (2004). The wretched of the earth (1st Ed. Trans. By Richard Filcox). Grove Press.
• Gellner, E. (1983). Nations and nationalism. Blackwell.
• Hanif, M. (2009). A Case of exploding mangoes. Random House India.
• Hamid, M. (2015). Discontent and its civilizations. Riverhead Books.
• Hussein, A. (1999). The weary generations. Sang-e-Meel Publications.
• Hussain, A. (1976).
• Husain, I. (1995). Basti (Trans. By Frances W. Pritchett). Indus.
• Hussain, Z. (2007). Frontline Pakistan: The struggle with militant Islam. I.B.Tauris.
• Iqbal, M. (2017). The reconstruction of religious thought in Islam. Peace Publication.
• Islam, N. (1981).
• Jalal, A. (2014). The struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim homeland and global politics. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
• Jalal, A. (2013). The pity of partition: Manto's life, times, and work across the India- Pakistan divide. Princeton University Press.
• Jalal, A. (1994). The sole spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the demand for Pakistan. Cambridge University Press.
• Jalal, A. (2000). Self and sovereignty: Individual and community in South Asian Islam since 1850. Routledge, 2000.
• Kanwal, A. (2015). Rethinking identities in contemporary Pakistani fiction beyond 9/11. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Khan, M. T. S. (2016). Pakistanis Pashtuns: The linguistic and cultural disruption and re-invention of Pashtun. American University Washington D.C. PhD dissertation.
• Marwat, F. R. (2007).
• Naeem, R. (Nov. 2016).
• Naeem, R. (14 August, 2019).
• 'The weary generations'.
• Nandy, A. (2002).
• Rahman, T. (2002).
• Roy, A. G., & Nandi, B. (2008). Partitioned Lives: Narratives of home, displacement, and resettlement. Dorling Kindersley.
• Said, E., Wadie. (1994). Culture and imperialism. Vintage Books.
• Seliger, H. B., & Shohamy, E. (1995). Second language research methods. Oxford University Press.
• Shamsie, K. (2016). Kamila Shamsie on Intizar Hussain's novel, Basti: Reimagining the intimate sweep of history.
• Sidhwa, B. (2015). Ice-candy man. ILQA Publications.
• Sidhwa, B. (2016). An American brat. Lahore: ILQA Publications.
• Suleri, S. (2014). Meatless days. Lahore: ILQA Publications.
• Waterman, D. F. (2015). Where worlds collide: Pakistani fiction in the new millennium. Oxford University Press.